Croatian PM, Swiss president highlight economy

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Swiss President Doris Leuthard were agreed on Tuesday that the relations between the two countries are very good, that the ratification of Protocol III solved the issue of the free movement of Croatian workers. and that now it is necessary to boost economic cooperation.

Last year we recorded a 16% increase in trade, but much more can be done, Leuthard said after meeting with Plenkovic.

It is important to convey to our businessmen the message that Croatia is a stable country with highly educated personnel and a secure legal framework, which are the most important prerequisites for Swiss investors, she said, adding that Switzerland appreciated the reforms and progress achieved in Croatia.

Croatian-Swiss trade is about EUR 300 million and Plenkovic agreed that there was plenty of room for progress.

We talked about enhancing economic cooperation and investments, and about the realisation of programmes which Switzerland has for cooperation with Croatia, for which CHF 45 million has been made available, he said.

Numerous social cohesion policy projects have been agreed and they will start in May, and this year we will also launch projects aimed at reducing unemployment and environmental protection, Leuthard said.

The first in a series of agreements in the Swiss-Croatian cooperation programme was signed two months ago. Switzerland gave Croatia more than CHF 21.5 million in grants for the preparation of tender documentation for enhancing the water utility infrastructure in the Gorski Kotar region.

Leuthard and Plenkovic also talked about cooperation in science.

The Horizon 2020 programme played an important part in that. We established that we have 48 joint projects in science cooperation and cooperation between universities. The Swiss universities have a very good reputation and the cooperation with Croatia shows how important quality education is in your country too, Leuthard said.

The two officials welcomed the Swiss government's decision in December to ratify Protocol III, which extends the EU-Swiss Agreement on Free Movement of Persons to Croatia.

Plenkovic said between 60,000 and 70,000 Croats lived in Switzerland and that they were an important component of that country as well as an important link between the very good relations between the two countries.

Text: Hina

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